Rock legend Tom Petty "clinging to life" following heart attack

US rock legend Tom Petty has been rushed to hospital after a suspected cardiac arrest and was reported dead by CBS News, who then retracted the report.

The confusion came after the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to CBS that the 66-year-old had died - only to later apologise for "inadvertantly" providing the information to media.

TMZ is reporting the 'American Girl' hitmaker is "clinging to life" after being rushed to hospital from his Malibu home, TMZ reports.

Petty's hospitalisation comes just a week after he completed a large-scale 40th anniversary tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

He'd stated publicly the tour would probably be his last big one, telling Rolling Stone: "I have a granddaughter now I'd like to see as much as I can. I don't want to spend my life on the road."

Petty is one of the best-selling musicians of all-time, selling more than 80 million albums throughout his career.

He dropped out of school at the age of 17 to pursue his dream of becoming a musician, joining the band Mudcrutch. As a young boy he was inspired by the music of Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

Petty was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, and his career was filled with Billboard chart-topping hits including 'Free Fallin', 'The Waiting', 'I Won't Back Down', 'Learning to Fly', and 'You Got Lucky'.